BurghersAndDogsSports wrote:1. I dont really get the whole "we let them get under our skin" thing. Other than the Malkin penalty when the game was starting to tilt it wasnt really us losing our composure.

2. We got back into the game because of penalites which is fine, we have skill and teams should pay for that. But (and please correct if I am wrong, I dont have the stats and could be wrong) but does James Neal actually play even strength?

3. We blame the officials for the goals (I think goal 1 was fine, I think goal 4 wasnt) and we can say Matty Ice tipped the puck in and thats luck. But all 3 goals happened because the Flyers attack and swarm. Goal 3, if a Flyer wasnt charging towards the net we dont have the need to HAVE to tip it, if he isnt there its an easy goal. Look at our ES or regular PP goals: D shot from the point, D shot from the point off the boards, D shot from the point long rebound to TK, Sutter behind the net when a Flyer takes the wrong the side.

We simply dont get dirty, ever. If it wasnt for random high sticks and a moronic play by Talbot the game gets way out of hand.

4. HCDB. This is more than a trend now. The Pens switch up styles to start games and it throws the Flyers off. Once they adjust we lose our game. I am not a coach, but it seems to me that slight adjustments to style and breakouts are better served than altering your style. The Flyers figure it out after 10 minutes, even tonight with their behind the net game plan. I busted out laughing when he was interviewed in I think the 2nd period and was asked about it, he stammered, the announcers laughed and were saying he almost gave away his secret.

I was laughing because the entire world figured that out about 5 minutes into the game. Did HCDB think he was giving something away?

Excellent post.

1. I didn't see us lose our composure. We played an emotional game and that's not a bad thing.

2. We got back into the game due to several fluky penalties in a row.

3. No blame to the officials for goal #1, and i'm not sure about #4 I'd have to see it again

4. We, yet again, didn't adjust. I'm convinced we lost this game in the neutral zone. They entered our zone with speed, we entered theirs with 1 guy carrying the puck and 4 standing still

MRandall25 wrote:If you guys didn't see a change in the way the team played and handled themselves in the 3rd period (besides the Malkin penalty), I don't know what else to tell you.

Since you've asked, please tell me why they changed the way they played and handled themselves when they were 2 goals up in the first period?

I didn't ask, but I'll bite.

They didn't change the way they played. They let the Flyers get to them. We pretty much controlled the play for at least 65-75 percent of the game. The only difference was, they started playing down to the Flyers.

BUT.

Something was said in the locker room in between the 2nd and 3rd periods, because the team in the 3rd was completely different mentally than the team in the 1st. Aside from the Malkin penalty, they were much, much more composed, and look at the result. Came back from a 2 goal deficit.

I'd say that's encouraging, but I'm also not a pessimist.

Fair.

But, why wait till the second intermission to say the frigging thing that gets the team into work mood and away from brainfarting?Guess that's too much to ask.

Did you see Laviolette saying his magic thing to his team when they looked soooo lost so he took a timeout to actually fix things?Amazing how it worked. Made me feel jealous.

not going to lie i am furious with vokoun right not but after watching his face after he let in the goal i feel terrible for him. I know it was awful but geez hes played so good and that was also extremely lucky.

I feel like HCDB is a lot like Bruce Arians. They can craft a nice gameplan that can expose another team. The problem is the other teams adjust and they keep smashing their head against the wall when it stops working. BA was great at this as an OC.

This isn't PeeWee hockey... these guys don't need motivation, they need focus. Focus comes from more than a coach saying something in between periods in a locker room. It's a mentality. It needs to last all season long, not every once in a while, hit-or-miss, within a single game

MRandall25 wrote:If you guys didn't see a change in the way the team played and handled themselves in the 3rd period (besides the Malkin penalty), I don't know what else to tell you.

Since you've asked, please tell me why they changed the way they played and handled themselves when they were 2 goals up in the first period?

I didn't ask, but I'll bite.

They didn't change the way they played. They let the Flyers get to them. We pretty much controlled the play for at least 65-75 percent of the game. The only difference was, they started playing down to the Flyers.

BUT.

Something was said in the locker room in between the 2nd and 3rd periods, because the team in the 3rd was completely different mentally than the team in the 1st. Aside from the Malkin penalty, they were much, much more composed, and look at the result. Came back from a 2 goal deficit.

I'd say that's encouraging, but I'm also not a pessimist.

I actually completely disagree with first premise. We got out played severely in that last 15 minutes or so of the 1st. They out shot us 14 - 1 in that span. The Pens started the 2nd pretty good but then the Flyers actually got to their game. The Pens played on the outside, the Flyers had stages of actual cycle. It looks like we have zone time but it accomplishes nothing.

We didnt play down to the Flyers, they adjusted to attack our guy with the puck forcing an earlier dump in, in which they rotated a guy back to easily pick it off. Its why it was easy to tell HCDB's big secret was out of them playing behind the next = we gave up 4 straight goals.

I do agree we played more composed other than the Malkin penalty and am not sure we ever lost our composure in the game and why people keep claiming that. Its like a sickness now. We. Are. Robots. Flyers cant Beat Us. Must. Be. Reason.

Mr. Colby wrote:This isn't PeeWee hockey... these guys don't need motivation, they need focus. Focus comes from more than a coach saying something in between periods in a locker room. It's a mentality. It needs to last all season long, not every once in a while, hit-or-miss, within a single game

I tend to agree, though most always lay that at the feet of the coach. I've never worked for anyone that succeeded in motivating me; it all comes from within.

Last edited by columbia on Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

The thing I notice the most is the way that Philly puts pressure on the Penguins players constantly. The forecheck and backcheck are relentless. That is definitely more of recent change over the past couple seasons since laviolette has been the coach. The Flyers make it uncomfortable and hard to play against and for a team like the Pens who are used to just using their offensive talent to glide through games sometimes, it can frustrate players like Malkin. I dont know if the Flyers play this intense every game, I doubt it, theyre 8-9-1, theres reason why. But when it comes to playing the Penguins, they know the formula to beat them. Just frustrate them and they get thrown off. I wish the Pens played more like that and maybe Shero needs to trade for a couple guys who play more of that style of a game. They need more guys who are like Kunitz, Dupuis, Sutter...players who have some scoring touch but are tough to play against and are defensively responsible. We have too many guys on the team who are thinking offense, instead of playing both sides of the ice.

It's stupid that DB is the worst coach in the world against the Flyers. Don't know how he can justify playing Orpik so much while watching him get burned over and over and over and over, and then turn around have Sutter on the ice for only 12 minutes. Boggles the mind how Laviolette has **** Bylsma into retardism.

since1970 wrote:...was the first goal waived because the puck was in the glove and they couldn't determine the glove was over or they couldn't see the puck???

They couldn't see for certain that the puck was over the line. Even though the puck was in the glove, and the glove clearly went behind the goalpost, and object permanence is something that humans usually figure out by 1 year of birth, the rules say it's not a goal. It ended up being moot about a minute later.

Pens mentality is all wrong First period we worked the puck deep and were successful. But then we scored 2 goals and everyone turned into a superstar. No more working the puck deep and battling for chances. We just wanted to skate into the zone and make a pretty pass through 4 defenders for a pretty one-timer goal. Except it never works. They just don't feel like battling for chances.

BleuLineLady wrote:The thing I notice the most is the way that Philly puts pressure on the Penguins players constantly. The forecheck and backcheck are relentless. That is definitely more of recent change over the past couple seasons since laviolette has been the coach. The Flyers make it uncomfortable and hard to play against and for a team like the Pens who are used to just using their offensive talent to glide through games sometimes, it can frustrate players like Malkin. I dont know if the Flyers play this intense every game, I doubt it, theyre 8-9-1, theres reason why. But when it comes to playing the Penguins, they know the formula to beat them. Just frustrate them and they get thrown off. I wish the Pens played more like that and maybe Shero needs to trade for a couple guys who play more of that style of a game. They need more guys who are like Kunitz, Dupuis, Sutter...players who have some scoring touch but are tough to play against and are defensively responsible. We have too many guys on the team who are thinking offense, instead of playing both sides of the ice.

BleuLineLady wrote:The thing I notice the most is the way that Philly puts pressure on the Penguins players constantly. The forecheck and backcheck are relentless. That is definitely more of recent change over the past couple seasons since laviolette has been the coach. The Flyers make it uncomfortable and hard to play against and for a team like the Pens who are used to just using their offensive talent to glide through games sometimes, it can frustrate players like Malkin. I dont know if the Flyers play this intense every game, I doubt it, theyre 8-9-1, theres reason why. But when it comes to playing the Penguins, they know the formula to beat them. Just frustrate them and they get thrown off. I wish the Pens played more like that and maybe Shero needs to trade for a couple guys who play more of that style of a game. They need more guys who are like Kunitz, Dupuis, Sutter...players who have some scoring touch but are tough to play against and are defensively responsible. We have too many guys on the team who are thinking offense, instead of playing both sides of the ice.

Agreed. Pens were getting hit and harassed all over the ice in every zone. We played that way in 2009.

Philly doesn't play like this all the time, only against us.

Unfortunately for us they have our number right now. How many games they win or lose vs Florida, Caps, Toronto, etc...are meaningless. They play well vs the Penguins. Throw out seeds and records. We need to find a way to beat them and NJ.

Shero has 13 million to spend and we are coming off three incredibly disappointing playoff runs. Pressure is on.

Physical defensive dman, tough bottom 6 forward or two, and a top 6 scoring winger are all needed. Between now and April I wouldn't be surprised if 4 new guys are added and 3 or 4 current Pens are demoted or traded.

The Snapshot wrote:Vokoun had a bad game. For those drawing comparisons to last year's playoff, the similarity was bad goaltending on our side. Vokoun needs a little more consistent work I think.

Goals 1, 2 and the last one at least were all bad. Simmonds made a simple move and tucked it right around him. He was way too scrambly tonight.

Pens did take a few penalties out of a lack of discipline, but I don't think that was the major story.

taking penalties isn't the only indicator of issues with composure. going for unnecessary big hits and more importantly, getting distracted by the theatrics is pretty significant. not to mention, every time you give the flyers the pleasure of engaging in the garbage, the ****-eating grins on their faces get wider, and they start playing better.

the red wings never used to give you an inch. and they drove everyone nuts. that's the attitude this team should be focusing towards.

Mr. Colby wrote:Pens mentality is all wrong First period we worked the puck deep and were successful. But then we scored 2 goals and everyone turned into a superstar. No more working the puck deep and battling for chances. We just wanted to skate into the zone and make a pretty pass through 4 defenders for a pretty one-timer goal. Except it never works. They just don't feel like battling for chances.

That's spot on. I thought it was a bad sign when, in a 2-0 game, they gave the Flyers a 3-on-1 break that they fortunately didn't score on. I think it was off a Crosby turnover in an attempt to make a really pretty passing play. When will they learn to play with a lead? They don't need to go into lockdown and stifle their creativity and attack but it makes no sense to push that hard, that recklessly, when they already have a multi goal lead. For as great as they are, Crosby and Malkin are constantly guilty of it and they need to figure out how to stop doing it. They are the leaders, if the team is ever going to be able to play with a lead, if this is ever going to be more than a middle of the pack GAA team, they need to make a commitment to playing responsible hockey even if it cuts down a bit on their scoring.